What is history?

What influences history?PoliticsEconomicsReligionSocietyIntellectual/ArtsArea/ Geography

PoliticsPolitical Influences: • Type of political system (ex. democracy) • War • Courts/Laws (legal system)• Leaders (freely elected, dictator, king)• Popular participation (voting)

Economics• Who controls trade/industry • Agriculture/Industry importance, or is it information?• Labor systems • Levels of technology • Levels of international trade • How do people make money?• Money system

ReligionReligious Influences: • How important is it to society as a whole? • Holy books • Beliefs/teachings • Conversion – role of missionaries • The idea of what is right and wrong. • Deities (gods, who or what they worship)

Society• Family order –patriarchal, matriarchal • Gender relations – role of women, children • Social classes • Entertainment • Life styles

Intellectual/Arts• Art,music, architecture • Writing and literature • Philosophy • Math/science • Education • Inventions

Area (really, its geography)• Location (availability of natural resources, farmland)• Physical features• Movement (are people staying or leaving? Does this help or hurt your society)

Ways to know about the past● Primary sources● Secondary sources● Art- paintings and

photographs● Music● Stories (oral and

written)

How to write “history”Writing is an important part of the course. To express your knowledge of history you need to use these skills……….

Looking at things from a perspective of…...

a. Identify and assess causes and effects for events.

b. Analyze why something happened related to other events(context)

c. Examine how things change over time.

To do this you need to look at…..

a.differing perspectives of firsthand accounts and of historical revisions.

b.themes and biases in historical records.

c. use primary sources, secondary sources, and data to develop generalizations.

e. interpret timelines